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Show The Salt Lake Tribune ARTS ___ PuzzleAnswers_ Puzzles Can Be Found on Page D-4 Chorissima Gives Girls a Unified Voice a that most people don’t appreciate, BY CATHERINE REESE NEWTON THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Answers (Top To Bottom): Even, Paper, Free, Trade. Sunday, May 28, 2000 Girls choruses would seem to be anatural. For one thing, girls don’t havethe drastic voice changes for which adolescent boys are so famous. So why don’t we hear more ofthem? “In the United States we have the English cathedral tradition, and also [mixed] children’s choirs because of school choirs,” said Sharon Paul, artistic director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. “It’s mostly in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries thatgirls choruses are much more common.” She noted that girls choruses have begun to catch on in the United States in the past 10 years — and that the San Francisco Girls Chorus has been around for 21. Paul will bring Chorissima, the chorus program’s 41-voice concert and touring ensemble, to Salt Lake City for two performances on Temple Square next weekend. “With boys, if you have an 11year-old next to a 17-year-old, there’s an octave change,”she said. @ Temple Square Chorissima will perform in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Friday at 7:30 p.m. Admissionis free. The chorus will sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on “Music and the Spoken Word” June4 at 9:30 a.m. Admission to the program in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square is free; audience members should be seated by 9:15. The program is broadcast live on KSLtelevision (Ch. 5) and radio (1160 AM). and Virtuose. Singers come from 47 communities in the Bay area; 42 percent of them are of nonEuropean American ethnicity, and 26 percent receive need-based scholarships. “Chorus has been my entire tiful and very flexible.” The SanFrancisco Girls Chorus has more than 325 singers in all, ranging from 7 to 17 and grouped musical development,” said Rachel Huysentruyt, 16, an alto. She is in her fifth year with the program and her second with Chorissima. “Tt has given medirection and instilled a greater appreciation for all kinds ofmusic — folk,classical, by vocal accomplishmentinto four even popular. “With girls, putting an 11-year-old next to a 17-year-old gives you a beautiful color palette, very beau- levels, plus Chorissima and the even-more-elite Virtuose chamber choir. Paul conducts Chorissima that one-year stint turned into eight. “The girls were so sophisticated musically, they worked hard and never backed down from a challenge,” she said, adding that she given me strong: female role models and reinforced my belief that if I work hard at something, I can accomplish it.” Huysentruyt played soccer for 10 years before the time commitmentof the chorus — six to eight hours a weekof rehearsal, plus 30 minutes to an hour of daily individual practice, plus a full concert schedule and the occasional tour— became too much.She continues to participate in debate club, teach Sunday school and hold down a part-time job while keeping up her grades at what she considers “an academically rigorous high school.” “It’s hard to balance the amount ofwork and choruswork,butatthe same time, we havea strong sense of priorities,” she said. “And you can always do homework on the bus. Paul said Huysentruyt''s schedule is not unus' girls are really greatat time management.” Elizabeth Appling Bloch launched the girls chorus in 1978. When sheretired in 1992, Paul came onas interim director while the board searched for a successor; hopes to “break the boundaries in whatit’s perceived young singers can do.” The chorus’ repertoire includes 16th century works as well as mu- sic it commissions from contemporary composers. Folk music is another staple of the repertoire, and Paul “beats the bushes” seeking it out. “We always try to work with native speakers” in teaching the international music, she said. “Young people are fast with lan- guages. I’ve worked with adult choirs, and they are terrified [by new languages]. These girls jump in anddoit.” Friday’s free program on the Temple Square Concert Series features Finnish, French, Japanese, Mexican and American folk songs. The chorus also will perform with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the June4 broadcastof “Music and the Spoken Word.” Selections will incl. le “For He Shall Give His Angels Charge” from Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”with the men of the choir. “!'mreally excited at the opportunity to sing with men,” Huysentruyt said. “We don’t do thatoften.” a a a 8 a a = = is @ a = @ “Chorus as an organization is much more than. the music, though.There isa level ofiintensity cio RAGS to RICHES with our *"REUPHOLSTERY LABORSPECIAL ‘299 8 & . 4 with our In Stock Feirie é eS x SUMORY, duNE 4 A00n0 7.004, new WEST JORDANstore 3078 West 7800 South, 563-9611 a e 8 ar @ OPEN MONDAY 9-6, TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 9-8 616 West 2600 South, Bountiful (By-K-Mart), 294-7166 Sale Ends 6/3/00 6 pm WV Sofa Factory 2 Factory Direct Showrooms 2900 So. 300 West, Salt Lake City 486-6686 4674 S.Holladay Bivd., Holladay 277-6327 FREE FINANCING No interestfor 12 MONTHSoac TAKE AN EXTRA 1% DISCOUNT FOR pee IN FULL ATTIME OF PURCHASE FREE IN HOME ESTIMATE. ve = ALLSAINTS fpvscopnt CHunc (0 foraDae ARISTIC DIRECTOR Mec ACCOMPANIST = What would you doif you had 24 hours to changethe future? 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